John Strauss (Roy Dupuis) and his wife Kathleen (Kristin Lehman) journey to a secluded island in search of a long lost heirloom. Sent away to Europe as a baby John had a trust fund which helped raise him, but was never able to discover the origin of the money or his own past for that matter. Finally he and his wife manage to connect the dots to the island, but no one on it recognises the name Strauss. Inflicted with a deadly affliction John is dying and his only hope is to discover the secrets of his past. One of the few on the island who is willing to help him is Dr. Marlowe (played by Rutger Hauer).This hauntingly bad piece of filmmaking derides it's origin from some Lovecraftian lore, which truthfully has not had a good history of proper on-screen treatment. "Bleeders" is no exception and although Dupuis and especially Rutger Hauer give the script a half-hearted attempt the overall direction of the movie is tragic. The film lacks pacing, basic storytelling abilities, logic and worst of all - horror. Even the farcical dialogue and jumpy script can be forgiven to some point, if the gore is in the right place and the creepy crawlies manage to inflict some fright. Given the monsters look like half-melted outcasts from "The Muppet Show" there isn't even any tongue and cheek ha-has to let you distance yourself from the sheer badness.In this movie everything seems to be way off and severely amateurish. Were it not for the nudity (including one extremely long sex scene, which is arguably the only watchable sequence in the movie) it could easily pass for a bad TV movie.Rutger Hauer tumbles down into the acting ghetto with this outing. Almost as if he really did die in "The Hitcher" and since than it is only his decomposing corpse is being employed to boost video sales of zombified E-class garbage. Hopefully 2011 will announce his big comeback, when "Hobo with a Shotgun" and than South African directed "Spoon" hit the screens to offer a much deserved homage to the downtrodden Dutch actor.It must be noted however, that a couple of extremely interesting ideas pop out during the wanting experience, that do prove the pointless point that the basic plot actually reeked of promise.

Now, it isn't for everybody mind you, not even every die hard horror fans; but if you like freaky monsters under the ground from origins to awful to speak aloud, then not only are you a Lovecraft fan (see Shadow Over Innsmouth), but you'll probably enjoy this movie. Not fully incorporating the Cthulhu Mythos, huge parallels are seen in the backwoods MA people, the fish like monsters and something that came from a long time ago. Surprisingly, unlike the vicious scheiBfare Lovecraft renditions that came out of the eighties, this is surprisingly well done. It has actors and actresses that don't foul up the Lovecraftian nightmare that the director has in store for the audience, and a good plot. My only question was, so what happens next.

Don't know if anyone remembers the box for this or not, but it had a packet of fake blood taped to the front and you could squish it with your fingers. You gotta miss that kind of showmanship now that VHS has become obsolete! Well anyway, back to the film...A pale, terminally sick man (Roy Dupuis) arrives on a secluded Canadian island with his blonde nurse wife (Kristin Lehman) to trace his family lineage in hopes of finding a cure for his "degenerative congenital blood disease." Turns out he's actually a descendant of the incestuous Van Daam clan, whose keeping-it-in-the-family lifestyle has resulted in little, legless, rubbery, bright-light-hating monsters who lurk beneath dark catacombs and emerge with claw hammers to nosh the blood of townspeople. First off, you might expect better coming a from a film scripted by Dan O'Bannon (ALIEN) and Ronald Shusett (FREEJACK), but there are several glaring plot holes and the premise, despite perverse sexual elements, is overly familiar. Rutger Hauer is also wasted yet again as a boozy doctor. However, it's not a complete washout and that's largely due to very good performances from Dupuis and Lehman, who make you believe in their characters and their plight, even though this thing is downright stupid much of the time. Watch for them in other things, but this horror exploiter will be best remembered by me for that nifty box.

I just saw Bleeders for the 2nd time this weekend, and I must say that it's a great film. It's really offbeat and different, and I'm not afraid to say that I give it a 10! You have got to be able to appreciate a classic bad B-movie, and as a bonus, this one is actually quite interesting.If you're fed up with the classic Hollywood bullcrap, and you just want something to check out for sheer entertainment value, then pick up Bleeders - you won't be disappointed... And if you are, then you can join the ranks of all the "holier than thou" pseudo-critics who panned this movie.This is not a spoiler, but I will say, can you imagine being with a significant other that loves you, no matter the RIDICULOUS things that you do? Just think about that one, because it's pretty absurd that the main character's girlfriend wants to stay with him, even when it's revealed what he needs to do to survive!